June 18, 2020
Mobility21 is pleased to welcome and support Beverley-Claire Okogwu and Fausto Vega as participants in the 2020 Robotics Institute Summer Scholars (RISS) Program.
At Mobility21, we view research and education as two sides of the same coin. We cannot educate for future generations without exposing them to research, development and deployment. On the other hand, we cannot do successful research, development and deployment without the input of future generations.
“The Carnegie Mellon University RISS Program is an intensive summer research program for talented undergraduate students. Summer Scholars have the opportunity to participate in state-of-the-art research projects, interact with a diverse research team, and to be mentored by leading faculty and technical staff. The program introduces aspiring students to dynamic research resources and methods, RI graduate education programs and research projects. The Summer Scholars program lasts 11 weeks.”
More about the Mobility21 RISS Summer Scholars, Beverley-Claire Okogwu and Fausto Vega
Beverley-Claire Okogwu is a rising senior at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania majoring in Computer Science, with a minor in Mathematics. This summer at the Robotics Institute Summer Scholars Program, she is working on developing and using Reinforcement Learning environments to experiment with and model autonomous vehicles and smart cities. Through the RISS program, Beverley-Claire hopes to fully comprehend the techniques and skills needed in writing and presenting research. In addition, she will also learn how to conduct fluid research (especially in the fields of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence) and have an idea of what graduate school would be like. Although she is mainly conducting remote research this year, she sees it as gaining an adaptability skill that will make her familiar with simulation environments.
Aside from research, she is also enjoying the various online platforms – Discord, Slack, zoom – that are being used in communication with her fellow scholars. She is learning so much about each member despite being in different parts of the world! Beverley-Claire is truly grateful to be given this opportunity at RISS.
F
austo Vega is an undergraduate student at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). He is part of the Honors College, majoring in mechanical engineering, and minoring in mathematics. He conducts research at the Drones and Autonomous Systems Laboratory at UNLV on several robotics concepts. He is excited to be participating in the Robotics Institute of Summer Scholars at Carnegie Mellon University. He hopes to learn efficient research methods from his mentors as well as gain more insight in drone and aerospace technologies. This experience will allow him to prepare for graduate school through the writing and professional development workshops. It will also allow him to expand his network with scholars, faculty, and professionals from around the world.
More about RISS
“RISS connects students from across the country and world to contribute to robotics research alongside top CMU researchers. With 42 scholars from 11 countries and 33 home universities, the 2020 RISS cohort is the largest cohort since the inception of the program in 2006. Forty percent of the participating scholars are from communities underrepresented in STEM…The RI scholars’ research experience is guided by outstanding research mentors that represent the incredibly diverse robotics research from across the Institute. This year 25 individuals and their teams are undertaking the challenge of navigating a remote experience. We welcome eight new mentors and thank returning mentors who have had a tremendous impact on the lives and careers of the scholars. Mentors guide, support, create new possibilities, and nurture students’ potential.”